BLACK FOREST CASTLE

23 February, Tuesday, 3 am

The Black Forest Packhouse turned out to be a monumentally huge building on top of a steep hill. I had thought Henry's packhouse was like a castle - but Alpha Solomon's packhouse made Henry's looked like a sprawling golf club. This was the real castle, complete with draw bridge and stone gargoyles. I kid you not. It looked like they had eradicated one of those really old vampire covens and then converted it into their packhouse with minimal renovations.

Or maybe it was because we had reached Black Forest's packhouse at one of those ungodly hours in the morning, so everything was dark and shadowy. Maybe if we had visited Black Forest in the daytime, the place would look like Disneyland. Maybe. But tonight it looked dark and sinister - a matching set to the Dark Woods and creepy cave where some vampiress was taking her eternal slumber. I looked at Bell wondering if the sinister atmosphere suited his taste... you know, since he was evil and all, but Bell was wearing his usual stony expression.

Escorted by eight guards, we followed Trevor down the stone hallways and spiral stairs. Ki was smiling his PR smile. I wondered if he took it off since we met Trevor. Ben looked bored. When we climbed up high enough, we reached an open air corridor. It was freezing - even the gargoyles crouching along the parapets looked like they were too cold.

Trevor had stopped talking since we got here.

After walking a good length of cold corridor, Trevor pushed open a heavy wooden door, it gave way with a deep creaking sound. Black Forest seemed to have many good filming locations for vampire movies. It even came with matching sound effects. On second thoughts, it probably wouldn't work out. There were too many signs of modern tech - from the white fire detectors on the ceilings, to the wire casing to the various metal boxes mounted on the old walls. I didn't know what they were, but the red boxes had glass panels had held fire extinguishers. I saw a particularly big one with a hose. The Black Forest Packhouse definitely met the fire safety standards for buildings.

But I couldn't help but feel it was very ugly. Unlike Heller's castle which looked completely like a breathtaking set from those Color Mountain dramas, Alpha Solomon's castle looked sort of patchy. The rough hewn stone walls, with white plastic wire casings slapped on, and various pieces of tech stuck into it to make the WiFi or whatever they needed work.

The inside was warmer though. I wouldn't say comfortable warm either, but warm enough for a wolf to dwell in. Mrs Henderson would have insisted we shut the windows. I looked around, was this the Alpha's office? It was round and large, but dark. The windows were all shut and grilled. It looked more like a fancy prison, but only because the wrought iron grilles on the windows were curved and frilly. I think they were designed to look like large ivy vines, but they only crawled over the windows, not the rest of the castle tower, so it didn't quite pull off the full effect.

The full moon shone brightly from outside. It would be, I imagine, a beautiful view, if the glass was cleaner.

The walls nearest to us had floor to ceiling display cabinets. I scanned the items inside and realized quite quickly that they held treasures from the many wars Black Forest had won. Right in the center display case were two hands made of stone, each finger wearing a vampire lord's ring. Talk about collecting creepy things. Every finger, but the thumb of one hand, had a ring.

"I see you have found the Black Forest Pack's crown jewels." Alpha Solomon's voice suddenly boomed from the other side of the room. I nearly jumped out of my skin. Bell rested a firm hand on the small of my back.

Alpha Solomon had met us in his bathrobe, I mean dressing gown (but essentially they were the same thing.) He had entered from the side door behind the large dark wood desk. The desk looked like something you might find at the Lorent's. I think the table the old deltas were conspiring around in their secret meeting room looked something like that.

But wait, I just had to go back to his dressing gown. This amused me very much. I doubt any man in our pack owned such an item. But it wasn't just the dressing gown - it was the fact that Alpha Solomon had worn it to meet us in his office.

Maybe he had woken out of bed just to meet us, and there was an Alpha's apartment located in the packhouse too. I'm sure there would be space somewhere. Their packhouse was monumentally huge.

Trevor bowed, "Good evening, Alpha. The young Alpha Lorent and Alpha Princess are here."

I've never seen Trevor so formal before. Maybe it was because he was at work?

"Ah! Welcome, welcome." Alpha Solomon smiled, "I was just about to have a drink. Would you care to join me?"

"I don't mind." Bell agreed, "But my princess is still underage."

"Right, right." Alpha Solomon nodded and poured out a golden liquid into to crystal glasses filled with ice.

There were only two glasses anyway, so perhaps he had only meant to offer it to Bell all along. If Bell took notice of the honor, he didn't show much appreciation. He took the drink offered to him with a curt nod, "Trevor said you wanted to see us."

He looked at Trevor who was still just hanging back.

"Ah yes, Trevor! Trevor! Thank you for bringing our guests to me." Alpha Solomon said as if just noticing his protegy, "Come, have a seat and we can all talk together."

"Yes, Alpha." Trevor answered with a nod, but he didn't hide his reluctance.

I guess Alpha Solomon was the top dog here afterall. He led us to the settees by the tall windows. The room was dimly lit enough for the moonlight to fall like large squares over where we sat.

The settee was a modern black one with chrome accents. The coffee table was made of black glass. I guess Black Forest wolves didn't break tables like we did in Night Leaf? Hahaha.

Even inside the room, among the furniture, nothing matched. I'm not sure why, but this felt disconcerting to me. For all the expensive designer and antique furnishing, the place still looked awkward.

The two men drank their liquor wordlessly.

It was like they were both waiting for the other to make the first move. I had no patience for stuff like that, so I randomly said the first thing that came to mind, "Your crown jewels look like vampire rings."

I was going to say they were vampire rings, but I changed it at the last minute because I didn't want to sound too offensive.

"Well, that's because they are." Alpha Solomon answered, "They were the rings of the Coven Lords that Alpha Aaron defeated during the dark war."

Oh. Wait, that's not right, "I thought there were 10 covens?"

Alpha Solomon nodded, "Yes. We never found the last one. When we killed the last Coven Lord, he didn't have the ring on him. Till today, it is still a mystery."

Now Alpha Solomon looked to the ring on Bell's hand, "I can't help but notice, young Alpha that you own one too. Such a rare treasure. Tell me, I'm curious, how you came to possess it?"

"I took it from an old vampire lord." Bell answered.

"And the coven?" Alpha Solomon asked, "Don't tell me you did not eradicate it?"

Bell smirked, "Why should I?"

Alpha Solomon shook his head, "Young Alpha, you are playing a dangerous game. Heed this elder's advice and completely destroy the coven. There is a heavy price to pay for a wolf to wear the vampire's ring, one which I would not even wish upon my worst enemy."

Was it the bit about dying an awful death in vampire hands? Or something else we didn't know about? Because with 9 rings in his display case, it was pretty obvious Alpha Solomon would be the expert when it came to vamps.

"You don't have to mind it." Bell smirked, "It's none of your business."

Maybe it would've been better if Bell remained wordless.

Alpha Solomon bristled, and then he smiled again, "Then I'll leave it as that."

"Let's cut the pleasantries." Bell said. I don't think he was being pleasant to begin with though.

"Tell me what you want, Alpha." Bell leaned forward.

Trevor froze. He looked to his alpha and then back at Bell.

Alpha Solomon barked out a short laugh, "You are indeed a rebel. Well, I like a man who can get to the point. So I will say it plainly."

Now Alpha Solomon leaned forward too. He had released his wolf, just very slightly, he wanted us to feel his alpha dominance, "I want to know what your princess was doing in that cave."

Bell paused as if considering his options, and then he asked, "What do you mean, Alpha?"

So I knew Bell was trying to judge how much he could get away with not saying.

Alpha wolves were very sharp and could sense a lie a mile away. This wouldn't be a problem in any honest open discussion, but it was quite a different story if you were trying to... I don't know, not tell him about the sleeping beauty in the cave?

"Yes, well, I see you found your princess safe and sound." Alpha Solomon said, "I hope everything had gone smoothly?"

So much for getting to the point.

"Yes." Bell's answer was curt.

"Well, yes, of course it would." Alpha Solomon shrugged, "I am curious to why she is here..."

"Is there a problem?" Bell interupted.

"Technically, no, of course not." Alpha Solomon quickly brushed it off, "Since the paperwork is valid for her visit tonight. But it just seems like too much of a coincidence for her to dream travel here on the exact night she had the permit entry approved for, no?"

"I wanted to join the hunt with the training session." I decided to explain before Bell answered something rude.

"Ah, yes. Yes, yes, I understand more than anyone how dream travelling can be somewhat tricky to control, but you were not exactly at the hunt, were you, princess?" Alpha Solomon asked.

Eh? I thought about it, "I kind of was, just a little on the fringe. But I was alone and the vampires spooked me.".

Alpha Solomon empathized immediately, "It must have been quite a frightful experience."

"The fighting sounds were really scary too." I decided quite by my lucky sense of direction that sounding like a scared cute girl would be the best way forward.

"Ah, so you hid in the cave." Alpha Solomon nodded his understanding, "Unfortunately, that cave is extremely dangerous. It was a good thing your mate saved you in time."

"What kind of danger do you mean, Alpha?" Bell asked blandly.

Now it was Alpha Solomon's turn to pause and decide what he should tell us.

It was pretty obvious that Alpha Solomon didn't trust us. Which explained why Alpha Solomon relaxed his guard when I admitted to being frightened. He immediately assumed that I was just a young she-wolf and stopped suspecting me of whatever he had suspected me of.

So now he just didn't trust Bell. And as far as I knew, Bell and my betas didn't trust him either.

"Well... the cave has been used to be an underground vampire coven more than once. There are many traps there." Alpha Solomon started, "Also the passageways are like mazes, it is easy to get lost inside it."

I nodded, "I was really worried about getting lost inside."

Which was true - I even took off my jacket and braved the cold just to mark the entrance.

"And it was so dark!" I added. I might as well, since it was the truth, "I couldn't see where I was going."

Hahaha, I just decided to play up my cute helpless girl image.

Alpha Solomon stopped and raised a brow.

Too much? Yeah... especially since he must know I was quite a powerful wolf.

"I..." I quickly scrambled with a good excuse, "A vampire came into the cave while I was there. I had to hide from him."

Bell growled and put a protective arm around me.

"It was good you hid." Alpha Solomon nodded, "You are very recognizable, if he had seen you, the other vampires would have known of your involvement in the hunt."

I nodded and tried to give credit to his men, "It's thanks to the training you've sent us. That helped me know what to do."

"Good, good. I'm glad to be of help." Alpha Solomon sounded pleased.

"Yes, thank you for that." I agreed.

"Well then, since it was like that, I think it would be much easier for me to be forthright with you." Alpha Solomon decided.